Basra's temperature is the second hottest "ever reliably measured on Earth" following the 54 degrees Celsius (129.2 Fahrenheit) registered in Kuwait the same day.
Iraq's state-run Meteorological Department said on Saturday that it had registered the hottest day so far this year, with maximum temperatures hitting 53.9 degrees Celsius (129.02 Fahrenheit) in the southern city of Basra, Khaleej Times reports.
Friday's merciless heat in Basra forced the majority of the residents to almost abandon the streets or to swim in the river. Increasing the residents' suffering were chronic electricity outages, caused mainly by the soaring temperatures and the decline in electricity imported from neighboring Iran.
Starting from Saturday, temperatures are expected to hover around 49 degrees Celsius (120.2 Fahrenheit) in Basra and continue to decline in the coming days, weather forecaster Nagham Mohammed told The Associated Press.
Mohammed added that temperatures in Baghdad are expected to reach 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit).
Weather historian, Christopher C. Burt, with the private Weather Underground, said Basra's temperature is the second hottest "ever reliably measured on Earth" following the 54 degrees Celsius (129.2 Fahrenheit) registered in Kuwait the same day.
The Kuwait's reading ties Death Valley's 54 degrees Celsius (129.2 Fahrenheit) one, which was measured on June 30, 2013 as the hottest reliably measured air temperatures on Earth, Burt added. Many other higher temperatures have been reported in the past but none are credible, he said.
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